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Editor:
Howard Denson

February
2017

STUFF FROM A WRITER’S QUILL

Writing
is like praying, because you stop all other activities,
descend into silence, and listen patiently to the depths of
your soul, waiting for true words to come. When they do, you
thank God because you know the words are a gift, and you
write them down as honestly and cleanly as you can.

—Helen
Prejean C.S.J.

In this issue:

Stuff
(and links) from hither and yon

Essential reading: nine experts on the books that inspired
them

A conversation with naval fiction writer David Poyer,
author of Onslaught

Baboons make vowel sounds similar to humans revealing
the evolution of language, study finds

A
conversation with naval fiction writer David Poyer, author
of Onslaught

It is not surprising that
CIMSEC wanted to interview naval fiction writer David Poyer.
The publication is put out by the Center for International
Maritime Security. Poyer’s latest, ONSLAUGHT, is based on a
war between the U.S. and China. Poyer explains that his books
can’t be snatched from current headlines since it takes about
two years for a book to go from writing to publication. http://cimsec.org/conversation-naval-fiction-writer-david-poyer-author-onslaught/30364

Baboons
make vowel sounds similar to humans revealing the
evolution of language, study finds

Should writers “give away”
their words? Colin Dickey explores this issue in an excerpt
from “Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a
Living.” He notes that money taints everything, why not
writing too? Much of the discussion in this section goes back
to the Ancient Greeks (Simonides, Pindar, et al.). Elsewhere,
the collection no doubt quotes Samuel Johnson: “No man but a
blockhead ever wrote except for money.”

In an interview a week before leaving
office, President Obama talks with Michiko Kakutani about the
roles of books in his life and in office, too. Obama, of
course, is not the only reader to be president. The Library of
Congress owes a great debt to books from Thomas Jefferson.
Abraham Lincoln liked to read and was an excellent stylist. U.
S. Grant still ranks as the best autobiographer of various
presidents, and he was a voracious reader of novels during his
time at West Point. Theodore Roosevelt was a prolific writer.
Herbert Hoover wasn’t as busy as TR, but turned out much work.
Harry Truman didn’t go to college, but read every book in his
hometown library. John Kennedy won a Pulitzer for PROFILES IN
COURAGE. Richard Nixon wrote extensively and used his writing
to redeem himself with the public. Jimmy Carter is the only
president who published a novel (a creditable one, too). It
was unfairly said of Eisenhower that “If Zane Grey didn’t
write it, Ike didn’t know it.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/books/obamas-secret-to-surviving-the-white-house-years-books.html?smid=fb-share

Tired of political columns
and diatribes? Well, relax, because Ann Marlowe is writing
more about bad faith, political speech, and the intrusive
“we,” particularly when used by servers in restaurants or
valets for parking services. The writer does take a poke or
two at statements by Obama, Trump, and others.

Lorraine Berry admits that she
lives amid books and more books, especially those in the TBR
stack (to be read). She describes the
impact of Thomas Frognall Dibdin, an
English cleric and bibliographer, who wrote Bibliomania, or
Book Madness: A Bibliographical Romance, “a gentle satire of
those he saw as afflicted with this ‘neurosis.’”

The North Florida Writers will not meet
during February, but the Mar.11 meeting will feature Anne
Payne, a writer and reviewer for The Florida Times-Union. The
talk will be in the meeting room of the Riverside-Avondale
Watson Realty branch (on the corner of Herschel and San Juan).
The meeting will start at 1 p.m.

She
has been a regular book reviewer for The Times-Union since
2011. Her reviews are primarily of books in the literary
fiction, memoir, crime fiction, and general nonfiction
genres. Since 2007 she has been the organizer of the Jax
Freestyle Book Club for Real Readers on Meetup.com.
The format, which she developed, is that each member who
wants to attend chooses from a list of books around the
month's topic. She curates the topics and lists, with member
input. The intense exposure, from reviewing and leading the
group, to new books from major publishers has given her
insight into what works in the current market.

First, they reinstated dues, but at a
reduced rate of $20 a year (for all previous categories). The
dues will begin with the 2017 calendar year.

Second, the NFW decided to go from
quarterly meetings to six meetings a year beginning in 2017:
January, March, May, July, September, and November.

Letters

Value of
short story form

Editor:

The January newsletter’s quote made a
valuable point when George R.R. Martin said, "I would also
suggest that any aspiring writer begin with short stories.
These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start
off with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book
series. That’s like starting in at rock climbing by tackling
Mt. Everest. Short stories help you learn your craft.”

As I emphasize to aspiring writers at the
meetings of The Bard Society, the short story is the supreme
art form with strict demands on tightness of the words with no
word being able to be other than what and where it is. Writing
a great short story is nearly impossible. Most readers don't
know how or even like to read short stories. An apprentice or
journeyman writer can write a hundred short stories and learn
only a small amount about the craft and vision of Story. On
the other hand, writing even that first bad novel will force
the writer to learn (read "teach oneself") close to ninety
percent of what is needed to write good fiction. The main
reason for this is that in learning a craft the first thing
that must be done is to get the mistakes out of the way, and
the novel offers a lot more space to do so.

Frank
Green, Bard Society, Jacksonville, Florida

On de
Vere and Shakespeare

Editor:

The January newsletter’s Hither and Yon
section had a link to a story about the identity of the author
of the plays attributed to William Shakespeare.

I traveled to Stratford years ago, and I
questioned the authorship then from what I heard and saw. I
was thrilled to learn so many authors have pursued this.
Almost any book about de Vere gives compelling evidence,
especially Mark Anderson's thoughtful study. I should hope the
sleuth has more evidence than a family crest because de Vere's
family crest was much older and had spears on it--Shakspear. I
am convinced, and many notable authors over the years are sure
that Will Shakespeare, the actor, had no qualifications to
write the sonnets or the plays.

Bestseller Lisa Gardner's edge-of-your-seat
thriller brings back law-enforcement couple last seen in SAY
GOODBYE. Quincy, a retired FBI agent, and Conner, an
investigative consultant for the Bakersville County sheriff's
department, have been fostering 13-year-old Sharlah for three
years and want to adopt her. When Sharlah's brother is caught
on a security camera shooting a clerk and a customer to death
in a gas station, Quincy and Conner work on protecting Sharlah
and locating her brother. Devilishly clever twists propel
Gardner's tale of family bonds fractured, mended, and
sometimes destroyed.

Tim Dorsey, CLOWNFISH
BLUES (William Morrow), Friday, Feb. 3, 7 p.m.

If you're loud and proud
Floridian Serge A. Storms, how do you follow up your very own
remake of Easy Rider? You shoot your own "episodes" of your
favorite classic television show, Route 66! With Coleman
riding shotgun, Serge is rolling down the highway of his
dreams in a vintage silver convertible Corvette just like the
snazzy car Martin Milner drove. It doesn't matter that the
actual Route 66 didn't pass through Florida, for Serge
discovers that a dozen episodes near the series end were
filmed (really!) in his beloved home state. So for Serge and
the always toked and stoked Coleman, the Sunshine State is all
the road you need to get your kicks.

But their adventure
traveling the byways of the Sunshine State's underbelly is
about to take a detour. Someone is trying to tilt the odds in
the state lottery amidst a conga line of huge jackpots
spinning off more chaos than any hurricane season. With this
much at stake, of course every shady character wants in. With
Serge and Coleman involved, you know mayhem will ensue.

Kidnap and rescue expert Thea Paris has
suffered from survivor's guilt ever since her brother, Nikos,
was kidnapped 20 years earlier at age 12, despite his safe
return. In the present day, the stakes get personal again when
Thea's wealthy father, Christos, is kidnapped on his 60th
birthday from his yacht. A powerful oil baron about to
make the deal of a lifetime, Christos has certainly made his
share of enemies. Thea expects a ransom demand, but instead a
series of foreboding messages in Latin come to her father's
phone. With no way to know whether her father is still alive,
or who's behind the kidnapping, Thea must fight the clock, her
own secrets, and those of her closest family members in order
to find the truth. Lee Child calls Howe's debut "razor sharp
and full of you-are-there authenticity—a superb thriller."

In her second Detective
Sarah Alt novel, former Atlanta police officer Boyce presents
a vivid, unflinching view of police work in a southern setting
in which disturbing legacies can come to haunt native
residents. Atlanta PD Detective Sarah Alt, known as Salt, is
smart, compassionate, and dedicated to the people she
serves. Then she hits a bad patch. She's sent to a
shrink to determine her fitness for duty; she and her
colleagues are pulled off cases to do riot control after
eleven Spelman coeds are shot during a night vigil; and she's
warned that pursuing a particular lead in a murder case will
put her career at risk. At the same time, she's trying to
figure out how to make a permanent relationship work with
fellow detective Bernard Wills, with two homes, three dogs,
and five sheep between them, not to mention a department
policy that would require one of them to transfer out of the
homicide unit.

Will Schwalbe, BOOKS FOR THE LIVING
(Knopf), Friday, March 3, 7 p.m.

Reading, Schwalbe writes,
is one of the few things you do alone that makes you feel less
alone. This publishing executive and author of the
best-selling memoir The End of Your Life Book Club also
states, I've always believed that everything you need to know
you can find in a book. Crime fiction, he suggests, can teach
us a lot about trust. Orwell's 1984 prompts Schwalbe to
observe that books offer shelter from the tyranny of digital
bombardment and endless connectivity, coaxing us to slow down,
savor, and ponder. This is the theme of The Importance of
Living (1937) by Lin Yutang, a long-forgotten philosophical
work that serves as the touchstone for Schwalbe's tribute to
the endless bounty of reading. Each chapter about a beloved
book--Stuart Little, David Copperfield, Song of Solomon, Bird
by Bird--is a finely crafted, generously candid, and affecting
personal essay. In this warmly engaging, enlightening,
and stirring memoir-in-books and literary celebration,
Schwalbe reminds us that reading isn't just a strike against
narrowness, mind control, and domination; it's one of the
world's greatest joys.

“The Writer’s Journey” will be
discussed by novelist Vic DiGenti at the Writers by the Sea
meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in the Amelia Island
Museum of History (233 S. 3rd Street, Downtown Fernandina
Beach, FL).

According to DiGenti, in
writing the story of our lives - biography or memoir - think
of our lives as a meandering river with a starting and ending
point. Each major turning point is a stepping-stone amidst
waters that bubble and boil around it. Each stone marks an
important life-changing event.

DiGenti's career in
broadcasting and special events turned to his first love —
writing - after he produced the Jacksonville Jazz Festival for
eight years. His three traditionally published, award-winning
Windrusher novels preceded his leap into the hard-boiled
mystery/suspense field. Using the pen name Parker Francis, Vic
wrote three novels in the Quint Mitchell Mystery series and a
short story collection Ghostly Whispers, Secret Voices.

Lately, he’s worked as a
ghostwriter and biographer. Vic serves as Executive Vice
President for the Florida Writers Association, FWA’s Regional
Director for NE Florida, and group leader of the Ponte Vedra
Writers, and Faculty Chair for the 2017 FWA Conference. Check
the Face Book Page - Writers by the Sea - Amelia Island - for
up-to-date details.

FWA BLOG FOR NORTHEAST FLORIDA

Groundhog’s Day was a
minor event for February, but, when the Harold Ramis film of
the same name came along, it became a new day: a parable for
us to relive a day until we get it right. For an aspiring
writer, that means putting the right words on paper. When the
Sonny and Cher number on the radio-clock wakes us up again, we
know we have to revise our day’s output. To do this and get
insights, you may need to confer with fellow writers., You may
go to the FWA blog and check out meetings of the River City
Writers, the Clay County Writers, Writers by the Sea, the
Ancient City Writers, and the Ponte Vedra Writers.

Ms. Walls says, “Travel writing is
not all glamor and glitz. It’s hard work, but so rewarding.” A
travel writer since 1992, Woodall’s Southern RV published
her first article on RVing at River Junction. She will
discuss:

What it takes to be a travel writer.

Should you try to get published or do a blog or ezine of
your own?

When and where to look for press trips.

She also posts a warning,
“Travel writing is like gambling it’s addictive. If you are
just doing it for the money, don’t.”

Today Kathleen publishes
and writes for American Roads and Global
Highways. Her travel books include GEORGIA’S GHOSTLY
GETAWAYS, FINDING FLORIDA’S PHANTOMS, HOSTS WITH
GHOSTS, and the WILD ABOUT FLORIDA series. Her
articles have appeared in Georgia Magazine,
and Country Music People (London, England). She’s a
member of International Food Wine and Travel Writers
Association and North American Journalists Association.

Clay County Writers is sponsored
by Florida Writers Association. Get the details at https://floridawriters.net/.
Monthly meetings focus on the art, craft, and business of
writing. Some meetings offer presentations by author-speakers.
Others introduce practical exercises to help writers sharpen
their skills, give and receive feedback, and leave with
concrete ideas to improve their work.